1. Positional Cloning of the Mouse Circadian Gene
- Author
-
Yaliang Zhao, Fred W. Turek, Lisa D. Wilsbacher, Martha Hotz Vitaterna, David P. King, Thomas D.L. Steeves, Minoru Tanaka, Joseph S. Takahashi, Marina P. Antoch, Phillip L. Lowrey, Jon M. Kornhauser, and Ashvin M. Sangoram
- Subjects
Genetics ,0303 health sciences ,ARNTL Transcription Factors ,Positional cloning ,NPAS2 ,Circadian clock ,E-box ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,CLOCK ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,CLOCK Proteins ,Oscillating gene ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,030304 developmental biology - Abstract
We used positional cloning to identify the circadian Clock gene in mice. Clock is a large transcription unit with 24 exons spanning approximately 100,000 bp of DNA from which transcript classes of 7.5 and approximately 10 kb arise. Clock encodes a novel member of the bHLH-PAS family of transcription factors. In the Clock mutant allele, an A-->T nucleotide transversion in a splice donor site causes exon skipping and deletion of 51 amino acids in the CLOCK protein. Clock is a unique gene with known circadian function and with features predicting DNA binding, protein dimerization, and activation domains. CLOCK represents the second example of a PAS domain-containing clock protein (besides Drosophila PERIOD), which suggests that this motif may define an evolutionarily conserved feature of the circadian clock mechanism.
- Published
- 1997